VIRGINIA AWARDED A $1.93 MILLION HEALTH WORKFORCE GRANTVirginia Only State in Nation to Receive

(Richmond, Va.) The Virginia Department of Health has been awarded a State Health Workforce Development Implementation grant in the amount of $1.93 million from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Virginia is the only state in the nation to receive this grant, which will be used to implement and administer the new Virginia Health Workforce Development Authority and to make available funds for regional health workforce planning and implementation efforts.

The mission of the Virginia Health Workforce Development Authority is to facilitate the development of a statewide health professions ‘workforce pipeline’ that identifies, educates, recruits, and retains a diverse and culturally competent quality healthcare workforce for all Virginians.

“The statewide demand for health care services is projected to increase, particularly as the number of adults over 65 years of age is forecasted to grow by 65% over the next two decades,” said Virginia Department of Health Commissioner, Karen Remley, M.D., MBA, FAAP. “This grant will help us recruit and retain health care providers to address the growing health care needs of all Virginians.”

The VDH Office of Minority Health and Health Equity led the effort in developing this grant proposal, bringing together partners from and leveraging the resources of multiple private and public entities, including the Virginia Department of Health Professions, Virginia Workforce Council, Virginia Health Care Foundation, Virginia Area Health Education Centers, Virginia Community Health Care Association and Virginia Academy of Family Physicians.

"As the agency that licenses Virginia's nearly 350,000 healthcare workers in some 80 professions, the Department of Health Professions looks forward to this collaborative effort to addressing the Commonwealth’s current and future health workforce challenges,” said director of the Department of Health Professions, Dianne L. Reynolds-Cane, M.D.